Changes
by tawney2dv6
Summary: Changes centres on a new Clan. How will their lives change after unexpectedly meeting Quinn and his people?
1. Changes 1

**Kinvara**

"What do we keep with us always?" I asked the small group of children around me.

"Courage, hope and caution!" They recited back. I couldn't help but smile at their youthful enthusiasm and wonder at how children could adapt to any circumstance and unusual situation.

Because that is what this is I suppose, a very unusual situation. But then again perhaps it's becoming normal to us all now. I looked around at my surroundings with a certain amount of pride, it wouldn't look like much to an outsider but to my people this was home. However this home consisted of two underground levels or platforms, as they were more commonly known to the clan. Each level had a number of chiselled out rooms resembling medium sized caves. The entrance to the levels was hidden away by the ruins of an old castle that once stood proud atop a large hill called Thensmere Point. Hence the name of our home, Thensmere.

The room I was sitting in at the moment was the largest room out of both platforms; it was used as a communal area, for gatherings, discussions, education, celebration and mourning. It was known simply as 'The Hall', large and circular with chiselled rock walls and a high ceiling, also made it the most impressive room of all. All in all the platforms had been a lucky find, practical and most importantly safe against our greatest threat; The Dragons.

I was 12 when the dragon awoke. I've never truly understood how it all started, whether awakening the dragon had been chance or by purpose but it didn't matter, it didn't then and it didn't now. This place was my future and that was what was most important, I had a responsibility to the 60 or so people that made up the clan, I would protect and educate them to the best of my ability and give them all a future.

"You're not alone in this Kin,"

I turned to find the children gone, replaced by my best friend and deputy Doone. She stood by the door her face soft, her dark brown eyes conveying the sincerity in her statement.

"I sometimes think you're a mind reader", I replied with a laugh. Doone grinned in return but her eyes remained serious. I noticed as only a life long friend would, the small characteristics in her posture and face that displayed an enforced tranquillity, a willingness to remain calm and under control. I was immediately concerned

"What's wrong? What's happened? Is it the dragons? Has there been another attack? Where are the children? Are they safe? We could evacuate to the 3rd platform, I no it's not finished but…."

"Kinvara!" said Doone finally managing to interrupt, "It's not the dragons. It's something else."

She raked an anxious hand through her hair as she walked over to where I was sitting, perched cross legged on an old oak table. Standing before me she pulled a small tattered envelope out of her cloak and held it out towards me. It was slightly damp, covered in small stains and bits of dirt, but Doone held on to it like it was made of gold.

"It's a…it's a message from Zeke. We received it a few minutes ago….by falcon."

Doone sat down beside me, her hands clenched together on her lap. It didn't take long for her words to sink in and a familiar feeling of dread began to rise from deep down in my gut. To deliver a message by falcon was a last resort, only to be used if the communications system had failed. I let my head drop down in to my hands and gently massaged my temples, willing the sudden tension that had overcome my body to disappear.

The towers as they were known were a fairly recent development. Three small stone towers placed on raised ground at equidistance points around Thensmere, gave a clear view of up to 25miles on a good day. However the towers would have meant nothing if it hadn't been for Zeke and Doone, they had devised the communications system that linked all three towers to Thensmere. They had created the aerial that sent and received all the signals and they had been two of the three who had bravely agreed to man the towers when they were still in their prototype form. They had helped to prove just how worth while the towers were, not only did they give early warnings against Dragon attacks, but they also created safe points and specially monitored areas for planting crops and raising what animals we could.

No brother and sister could have been closer and yet been so different. Doone with her dark eyes and hair and small petite figure was a direct contrast to her brother. Tall and fair with smiling eyes and a permanent grin, was a description that fit Zeke perfectly, his bubbly personality had typecast him as the joker of The Clan. Ironic then, I mused, that none of us are laughing.

If the communications system had failed, it meant that either a Dragon attack or the previous night's storm had damaged the aerial. Kenzie, Thensmere's communications controller, the one to whom the three towers checked in with each morning, had mentioned some static this morning. Nothing we all thought would be anything to worry about, obviously we were wrong. My thoughts trailed off as Doone snatched the envelope out of my hand.

"Kinvara if you don't open it I will, he's my brother I need to know what has happened. He wouldn't have sent it otherwise."

I pushed her gently back down on to the table and prised the letter out of her now shaking hands. The serene calm I had earlier observed had long gone only to be replaced with wild panic.

"I'll open it now."

I hurriedly tore open the handmade envelope and pulled out a small thin sheet of paper, Zeke's harsh scrawl was barely legible from all the ink stains and water spots. A reminder to us both that this letter had not been written at a leisurely pace. I quickly scanned the letter, making sure to appear calm and controlled so as not to invoke panic.

"What does it say Kin?" Doone asked quietly.

I lifted my eyes from the paper and looked directly into hers.

"Zeke has sent us a warning," I replied "I had better read it aloud."

"_Kinvara, as leader of The Clan I address this letter to you and you alone, after that this information and responsibility is in your hands to do with it what you will. I am writing this letter to you on the 2nd of May 2020 at 8.54am……"_

"That's this morning!" Doone interjected, "Only about an hour after he checked in," I nodded and carried on.

"_As you will no doubt have realised by now the communications system has failed. I don't know how or why it's happened; all I know is that it has left me unable to convey the immediate and serious warning I have to tell you. _

_10 minutes ago, whilst I was checking on the crops, I noticed movement in the distance, a small flickering in the dusk. Upon closer inspection I found to my surprise that the light was in fact a lantern."_

"People?" Doone questioned, "Surely not?"

"_By now you will have realised what I am talking about. I do indeed speak of a group of people, perhaps 20 or 30 in number, moving slowly towards my watch tower. However I would ask you not to panic, I have camouflage and good defences on my side whereas these people…well these people have nothing. I have been watching them for nearly an hour now and was surprised to notice certain weaknesses in their group. They are not the band of warriors you are no doubt picturing in your mind; they travel with children and the elderly. However I understand only to well that appearances can be deceiving. I only hope that this letter reaches you in time. The group is moving at a slow pace and so I would estimate that they would reach Thensmere perhaps mid afternoon on the 4th of May. I hope to speak to you all soon. Be careful Kinvara, stay safe. Zeke."_

As my voice trailed off, a silence descended on The Hall, neither of us knowing what to say, both unsure of what to do next. The only sound to be heard was the gentle chiming of the clock striking 10pm. I the first to collect myself stood up and with a voice that I hoped promoted no questioning began to speak;

"I want you to inform the other Elders of the situation. Take the letter, show them and tell them to evacuate the Clan to the 2nd platform,"

Doone openly hesitated before speaking.

"Where will you be while I inform the others?" she questioned cautiously.

"I will be fixing the aerial," I replied.

Glancing at Doone I could see her struggling to accept my decision. With better knowledge of the aerial I knew she thought herself the better candidate for the task, but as leader this was something I needed to do. I watched as she paced the room furiously, getting a hold of her emotions, then stopped and walked towards me. She leaned in and grabbed my shoulders, her fingernails digging in as she shook me gently.

"Don't do anything brave alright? Because it will undoubtedly be something stupid," and with that she picked up the letter and strode off out of The Hall.

"O Yeah," she called out behind her, "The tools you'll need are in my room and I'll tell Kenzie to switch of the generator so you don't fry."

I looked up grinning, shaking my head at her badly timed joke. Picking my long dark cloak up off of the table I slung it around my shoulders and made my way over to the door. Glancing momentarily at the walls filled with paintings and stories created by the children, I found a new determination to protect my people and with that in mind I gently blew out the lantern plunging The Hall into darkness and quickly made my way to Doone's quarters.

**Luka**

It was not, I mused, the greatest idea I had ever had to challenge Saphira to a game of cards. The mousy school teacher had made me look like an amateur and had taken uncharacteristic pleasure in my downfall. I probably should have expected it, I mean it's always the quiet ones you have to watch isn't it? Aside from that she had totally ruined my master plan, all I had wanted was some paper, but instead I had to promise her that I would take over the school and teach her little bratty children whilst she took 2 days off to have some r and r. How I wish we still dealt in gold and silver, it made things so much easier but in a world where the nearest shop is a charred mess on the floor dealing in promises seemed the better option.

Still feeling thoroughly cheated I walked dejectedly back to my quarters on the 2nd Platform. I suppose as "Voice of the People" I shouldn't really be gambling anyway, I should be setting an example to those around me. Smirking at the thought I carried on down the corridor not really paying much attention to my surroundings and as I rounded a corner ran smack bang into someone. As we collided our equilibriums failed and both fell to the floor with a thud. A tremendous metallic clang sent vibrations up my spine as spanners and screwdrivers scattered around me, followed by a tinkling sound as tiny screws and bolts hit the cold stone floor.

"Bugger me," I cursed as I pulled myself up from the floor, the process being made more difficult by several tiny ball bearings that had escaped in the pile-up. Brushing myself off I quickly turned around suddenly remembering the other casualty, then froze as I saw who it was.

"Kinvara….I…..I'm so sorry," I cringed at my stuttering and hoped she didn't notice. "Are you OK?"

I paused, waiting for her to answer but she appeared not to have heard me. As I looked down at our leader I felt my emotions surge. It was wrong; it felt wrong to be looking at her like this. Though not tall by any means, she normally had a presence about her that denoted trust and respect, sometimes even fear. But now I realised I was witnessing a rare moment of weakness. As she sat crumpled on the floor, tools strewn around her, she looked lost and afraid, her pale blue eyes which were usually sharp and glittering with ice were now large and china doll like, giving her a vulnerable fragile appearance.

I knelt down beside her and gently touched her shoulder, as I did she seemed to snap back in to herself and quickly began gathering the tools and shoving them into a large leather holdall. Surprised at the sudden change in her I almost believed myself to have imagined it all, but then I noticed her hands, they were shaking.

"Kinvara, are you OK?" I repeated.

""Of course I am," She snapped, "Just give me a hand will you, I'm in a hurry."

"Hey" I replied, "This is me you're talking to remember, Luka; the guy you've known for years."

She sighed as she picked up the last tool and closed the holdall. Throwing the bag over her shoulder she stood up, her eyes level with mine.

"I'm sorry Luka; I shouldn't have snapped at you, it's not your fault. It's just, something's happened, I don't have time to explain, but as an Elder you should be informed. Go to The Hall and wait for Doone and the others, she'll make sure you know what's going on."

"Ok, I'll go there right now," I replied, puzzled and more than a little concerned. It must be something serious to call an unscheduled meeting of the Elders. Kinvara gave me a small smile and took off at a run down the corridor. I watched her until she rounded another corner and faded out of sight. I again felt that familiar jolt in my stomach and berated myself for behaving like an adolescent young boy with his first crush and made my way towards The Hall.

Truth be told it wasn't really a crush, not to me anyway. From the first moment I saw Kinvara almost 6 years ago I was gone. Whilst not conventionally beautiful she was striking in appearance, with a lean, lithe figure muscled from years of fighting and wild auburn curls that cascaded down to the small of her back. High cheek bones dusted with freckles and full soft lips, along with those eyes completed the picture. But it wasn't just that, she was so strong mentally, physically, emotionally.

When I first met her she had just suffered a great loss, her father had just died and her old home had been destroyed. We met whilst travelling; Kinvara now promoted to leader had been given the task of finding what was left of the Clan a new home, along with this she was still trying to deal with the grief of losing her last remaining family member. I was accepted into the Clan; we became friends and then found Thensmere. I think I had loved her from that first moment.

"HEY LUKA!" I whipped round to see Doone running towards me; she was red in the face and breathing hard, she slowed to a jog as she saw me stopping.

"Luka," she stated still a little breathless, "I've been looking for you all over. There is a meeting of the Elders in The Hall…."

"I know," I interrupted, "I've just bumped into Kinvara, she told me."

"O" she replied, taken slightly aback. "Well you can still be of help to me. I'm looking for Saphira and Tyler, have you seen them?"

"Well…er...i have actually," I said, I felt myself go red at the mention of Saphira and my pathetic gambling attempt. "I was just…erm…talking to Saphira a few minutes ago in the trading hall, I think I saw Tyler there too."

Doone's eyes narrowed at my stuttering, but I relaxed as I noticed the faint trace of a smile.

"I'm not even going to bother telling you that gambling is wrong, aside from that you should know better than to challenge Saphira to a game of cards, it's a fatal mistake. But anyway I'll go and have a look. Thanks Luka, you'd better get to The Hall."

I nodded and we both went in our opposite directions, as I reached the door to The Hall a strange sense of foreboding crept into my mind, I pushed it aside took a deep breath and opened the door.


	2. Changes 2

**Kinvara**

"So there are people heading towards us right now," Kenzie questioned a slight hint of amusement and a raised brow told me he was just doing this to be difficult.

"Yes," I replied

"And you want me to go outside with you."

"Yes."

"To fix the aerial."

"Yes."

"And why would I want to do that again?" He was leant indifferently against the door frame of his quarters, his arms folded casually across his chest fixing me with a challenging stare.

I sighed inwardly at his stubbornness; he wasn't going to give me an easy time of this. Fighting off the urge to glare back and say something I would more than likely regret later I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to do a small amount of grovelling, something which I loathed with a passion, something that Kenzie knew very well indeed.

"You know why," I growled. "Because you know exactly what to do and I only have a vague idea." I neglected to mention that it was either drag him along or go crawling back to Doone who already had enough on her plate without having to worry about my ineptitude with a spanner.

His bright green eyes changed from challenging to smiling and his smirk turned into an outright grin that lit up his whole face.

"It's nice to be wanted," he said with a laugh, lightly side stepping as I aimed a kick in his direction. I shook my head in mock despair, more amused than annoyed by his antics. I watched as he darted around his rooms, and quickly gathered a few gadgets and tools that were littered around. An unaccustomed eye may have taken his rooms to be an utter mess, which they were, but people who knew him better grew to learn that although he sometimes failed in his attempts he did try to enforce some organisation into his living space. A large oak table, not dissimilar to the ones in The Hall, was the centre piece in the room. It was completely covered with sheets of paper and haphazard piles of books. Neat sketches balanced precariously on the edge of the table and I knew that sometime in the near future a firm bang of the door or a gentle swish of a cloak would dislodge them and sent them floating softly under the table to join the other long forgotten pieces. The room itself was quite large but had gained the appearance of one much smaller because of the multitude of shelves and wall units that adorned the walls, all of which were crammed full of books, tools, spares and other apparently useful objects that Kenzie had picked up over the years. In fact the only neat area of the room was the cordoned off bit by the door, communications central.

Kenzie's rooms were on the first floor, quite far back in the complex, almost segregated from the rest of the Clan. They were put there out of necessity, more for location than privacy. It just so happened that the aerial was directly above us, meaning less hassle and better efficiency as far as setting up the watch tower communications was concerned.

"Ok I've got everything." He announced walking towards the door. I nodded in reply and reached for my own bag carefully putting it on my back cautious of the dangerously sharp weapon I had gone back for at the last minute.

"Are you sure we'll need that?" Kenzie asked warily tapping the sword that was now positioned within easy reach over my shoulder.

"I hope not," I replied, "But this time I'm not taking any chances."

He nodded in understanding his expression dark for a moment. Wanting to lighten the mood I reached up and ruffled his shaggy ginger hair, I grinned at his reaction as he swatted my hand away and tried in vain not to laugh as he stalked out of the room giving me a glare that would have frightened even the bravest of dragons.

I jogged to catch up and fell into step beside him. A comfortable silence descended both of us lost in thought, anticipating what lay ahead. Going above ground had become a rarity and to me that was a frightening thought. To the younger members of The Clan only seeing daylight through a few trapdoors scattered around the Platforms was normal. But to those of us who remembered the time before the dragons, who could see the extent of the damage to our world, the fact that we were hiding in caves made the future seem a very bleak and sheltered prospect. We had regressed, we were living like animals burrowing in the ground and scavenging for food always aware of being prey to a larger mammal.

"O for Gods sake," I turned to look at Kenzie my eyebrows raised in question. He was in the process of putting on a headset, a modified version of the ones mobile phones used. The wires were snaked around his wrist and then disappeared over his shoulder into his rucksack. I watched as he struggled with the headpiece, apparently unwise to the fact he had tangled himself up, before relenting and grabbing his arm. His eyes widened in surprise until he noticed me furiously picking at the knotted wires. He gave me a lopsided grin and muttered a "Thanks mum" under his breath as I carefully unwound the cable releasing the tension on the headset.

I couldn't help but smile and a glance to my right confirmed that Kenzie found the situation just as amusing. You see the idea of mothering or even befriending Kenzie had once been a distant and unobtainable prospect. Kenzie and I had met under less than favourable circumstances; the death of his parents had lead to my father The Clan leader taking him in and giving him a home, essentially adopting him. To say I was unimpressed with this new development would have been an understatement. At 14 years old, only 2 years since the first dragon awoke in London, I had become accustomed to my fathers undivided attention. So the introduction of a needy 5 year old did not go down so well and I really begrudged the fact that Kenzie stole precious time with my father off of me. Now that I think back on it, it seems ridiculous that I should have resented a 5 year old child, but my adolescent self had yet to learn the difference between a human need to be cared for and petty theft of affections. It took me almost a year to finally differentiate between the two. My father's duties as a leader often took him away from me essentially leaving me to care for Kenzie under the watchful eyes of an Elder. I think I really did try to hate him, but how can someone hate a child? Especially Kenzie, he was a sweetie even though at times I had been so cruel to him, he would still look at me with complete trust and adoration in his eyes and slowly as time went on I found myself caring more about him then I originally thought possible. I found that I grew to accept the fact that I was sharing a place in my father's heart with another; Kenzie had gradually made the transition from unwanted stranger to family member and I was surprised to find that losing some of my fathers time was a sacrifice that I was more than willing to make. As Kenzie got older, as he matured, he became an invaluable friend. Knowing me better then anyone else, as well as having the ability to question my authority, to challenge my judgement as only a brother could.

A cool chill had set in and I pulled my cloak tighter around myself as we neared the exit to the Platforms. The still silence seemed all the more apparent to me as our footsteps echoed around the deserted corridors, a fog of darkness had descended, lights so near the exit had been forbidden long ago. I traced my finger tips along the rough stone walls of the corridor searching for the markers that would aid our blind journey; Kenzie had taken a tight hold of my arm his finger nails digging into the soft flesh.

"Relax Kenzie, I've found it," I whispered as my fingers found the small, well worn groove in the rock. As long as I kept to the groove we would know exactly where to go.

After walking in darkness for a few more twists and curves, the corridor opened up in to a large circular room, lit up by moonlight streaming from the gaps in a small trap door in the ceiling. This was one of the original ways in and out of the Platforms, though not the nearest we could of chosen it was the most sheltered, offering the best protection if the travellers were near.

Several roughly chiselled blocks had been stacked up against the wall to create a series of steps leading up to the trapdoor; I walked over to them and stood on the bottom step.

"When we get outside the aerial is our main priority. Don't think about anything else just concentrate on getting contact back with Zeke. The fact that its night time should be to our advantage, the dragons are less likely to make an appearance and we should be able to use the darkness as cover to get over to the hill. When I open the doors I will go out first then you follow, I'll close the doors behind you."

Kenzie walked over to me, fiddling with his headset in obvious annoyance.

"I know how this works Kin, I have done this before," He replied clearly irritated. "You're going to need these, incase anything happens." He tossed two lumps in my direction, which I caught clumsily and looked at in confusion.

"One is a torch, press the big switch and light will come out of it. The other a sort of walkie talkie, incase we get separated, just press the red button and talk into the microphone bit"

He was speaking to me as if I was a child and I turned to look at him offended; I wasn't an idiot. I glared at him and saw a look of smug satisfaction on his face; he had gotten his own back.

A brisk wind whipped past, catching my hair so that it swirled around us in an auburn whirlwind, snapping us out of our sparring. I walked up the rest of the steps and slid the wooden beam across that held the doors in place. Kenzie stood next to me and at the same time we pushed as hard as we could upwards on the doors, they opened with an ominous creak and I shut my eyes as bits of dirt and plants rained down upon us, unfortunately Kenzie wasn't so quick. One final push and the doors were open and I was greeted with cool, fresh air and a bright full moon. Kenzie spluttering and coughing on my left spectacularly ruined the quiet of the night and I hissed at him to 'shut up' as I pulled myself out of the Platforms and into the outdoors.

As soon as we were both safely out I gently shut the doors behind us, hastily pushed a few sods of earth and branches on top to try and hide our escape route. I motioned for Kenzie to follow and we both began to make our way over to the small hill upon which the aerial was perched.

Although it was almost 3 o'clock in the morning, the darkness could do nothing to hide the spectacular beauty around us. Once a great British monument, the ruins of Thensmere Castle were a slight to behold. Vast turrets loomed high above the forests surrounding us and though green and crumbled with time, the vast scale of the place made me look around with awe every time I saw it. We were walking through the courtyard at the moment; it was the central area of the castle with access to every point. The floor had been tiled with ornate intricate swirls, of reds, gold's and Burgundies that wound around the yard in an endless spiral of autumn colours. The entrance to the Chapel was to my right, still almost intact the sacred place once had some of the finest stained glass windows in the country, depicting unusually random patterns and colours instead of biblical references which once led many a conspiracy theorist to believe that it was a language of sorts referring to a treasure hidden long ago. It was a ridiculous thought and one that I had never dwelled on for long; treasure would be of no use to me now.

A sharp crack on my left had me spinning round, hand grasped tightly on my sword. I peered through the darkness trying in vain to pinpoint the source of the noise. There were two arches to my left, one leading to a twisting staircase up to the turrets and the other to the old castle gardens. It seemed unlikely that there would be anything in either though as both were dead ends. I started to walk forwards but again froze as I heard another softer snap; I turned to look at Kenzie, he was standing as still as a statue his eyes wide and uncertain.

'What do we do?' he mouthed.

I put my hand up in a firm 'Stop' gesture and slowly walked towards the arches, drawing my sword as I went. I ignored Kenzie's muffled yelp and decided to investigate the turret arch first. I cautiously moved into the archway, my eyes fixed upon the staircase. I breathed a sigh of relief as my surroundings became clearer. The staircase had partially collapsed; there was no way anyone could have climbed up it. I turned to leave, then froze in horror as something flew past my face and landed on the floor with a soft snap. I couldn't help it, I began to panic. I was frantically searching for the torch Kenzie gave me, my logic being; that if I was going to die I at least wanted to see who did it. In my blind panic my sword dropped to the floor with a loud reverberating clang that seemed to snap me out of my foolishness. I stood still and forced myself to take a few deep breaths; I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out the small torch Kenzie had given me earlier and pushed the on switch. The staircase and surroundings were suddenly clear.

I stood for a moment in disbelief and then I began to laugh. The sight before me was ridiculous even by my standards.

Kenzie suddenly ran in, small pistol in hand. "Bloody hell Kinvara," he said as he saw me leant against a wall wiping tears from my eyes. "What the hell were you playing at? I thought something was trying to hurt you."

"It was crows," I said shaking my head at the whole situation. "The noise we heard was bits of nest material falling out and hitting the floor." I shone the torch up first at the nest, nestled deep in the rafters and then at the floor that was littered with twigs, bits of moss and shiny black feathers.

Kenzie stared at me, trying to comprehend what I had just said, then quickly grabbed my arm and started to drag me out of the staircase.

"Hey! Wait, what are you doing?" I questioned as I made a wild grab for my sword.

"This is freaking me out Kin, I'm not as brave as you I can't handle false alarms like this. We need to keep moving, or I'm likely to go completely crazy."

His voice had gone slightly high pitched at the end, making his plea all the more desperate and sincere. I berated myself for once again going impulsively off track, it was not behaviour befitting of a leader.

"I'm sorry Kenzie, we'll stay on track this time, I promise."

I put my sword away and once again entered the spiralling autumn courtyard, this time going straight ahead, through the huge entrance gates and across the old stone bridge that once stood proud over the mote. I could see the aerial now, a dark shadow against the skyline and it did indeed look a little worse for wear, I just hoped that Kenzie could fix it.

I turned to ask him what he thought the problem might be, but my voice was drowned out by the worse possible noise imaginable. A shiver of dread ran up my spine and a deep bubbling fear began to rise from my gut. I looked at Kenzie and saw a mirror image of horror in his eyes.

"Please tell me it's not." He whispered.

"I can't." I replied shaking my head whilst frantically searching the skies, "We're going to have to run."

I shoved him back the way we came, dragging him along with me until another almighty roar, much closer than the first, surrounded us kick starting the adrenaline. We legged it back into the courtyard, slowing momentarily to hightail it around the corner into the old Chapel, both of us skidding to a halt and flattening ourselves against the walls either side of the door. Breathing heavily, I looked around at my surroundings in alarm; we had automatically picked the only room still intact. I looked at Kenzie and saw he had come to the same realisation; we were trapped in here and the dragon was approaching.


End file.
